Campaigners hoping to save Belle Vue House in Sudbury have taken their first step towards creating a business and leisure hub in the town.

The Belle Vue Community Bid Team is set to nominate Belle Vue House and the adjacent former swimming pool site as an asset of community value.

The site is currently for sale, with estate agents Strutt and Parker marketing the building on behalf of land owner Babergh District Council.

The community bid team wants to see a mixed-use of the building, with offices and conference rooms built.

It is also proposing a bar/cafe, while possibly operating an outdoor theatre/concert area on the former swimming pool site.

Community bid team chairman Theodore Bird said: “We believe the whole site should be registered as a community asset as it has been in constant community use for almost a century, from its earliest days as a hospital for recuperating soldiers in the First World War, to its present use as a Citizens Advice Bureau.”